According to Chinese online publication Caixin, the government of China advised citizens to avoid an alleged Ponzi scheme led by renowned Russian fraudster Sergei Mavrodi, which has become immensely popular in China.

In the 1990’s, Mavrodi ran MMM, the first financial pyramid in Russia with around 15 million people reached. Later on, he was convicted of and found guilty in fraudulence and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison. Having served his sentence, he launched several companies under the same name of MMM in other countries.